The Drifting Prince
by PleiadesTheNightWing
Summary: With Pyrrhia on the brink of another civil war, the young son of Tsunami now finds himself thrown into a journey where he must prove that he's just as strong and brave as his mother ... if he wishes to save his friends and family.
1. Prologue

Fiddling carefully in her room, a small, stocky yet graceful dragonet put together a tiny stack of rocks. She laid down and watched them quietly as she thought.

"Fen? Fen, dinner's ready!"

Fen's thick tail whacked the ground a few times as she finally stood up, nodding at her work before darting out into the dining room.

The entire house was mostly stone, save for Fen's bed. The little dragonet slowed down at the table, making a small chirping noise as her father limped over. She nuzzled his head before finding her seat.

"Where's mother?" Fen asked, tilting her head as she was handed a piece of cow. The older, reddish MudWing lifted his head.

"She's... doing something. Something special," he replied, seeming rather giddy. Blinking as she ate, Fen tilted her head. That wasn't usual. Usually her mother stayed home just so she didn't end up destroying anything. It was nice to have her home, anyway, with her father off helping out the other Dragonets of old- or, as she called them. They weren't that old.

As she thought, she lifted her head as a familiar, blue-eyed head poked through. Fen lifted her head and waved as the SkyWing made her way inside, sitting down beside the MudWing.

"Didn't think you'd be back so early, Peril," he mused, nudging her with his wing. He flinched slightly, but seemed much better after a few moments. Fireproof scales did him good. Unlike Fen, he could actually interact with his mate. "How'd it go?"

"I didn't think Sunny would have to leave the school... poor thing. And we haven't heard anything from her, Clay. I miss her." Peril scrunched her nose up as Clay sighed, nodding. Fen had heard about Sunny plenty of times before, so this wasn't a new conversation.

"Tsunami's coming back next school year, isn't she?" Peril asked, gingerly picking up her cow and watching it combust. She frowned, but didn't mind as she bit into the meat. It crunched loudly.

"Yup. Her and her son, I think. Haven't gotten to meet him yet, so it might be nice."

Both Peril and Clay looked back at Fen, watching the little dragonet as she wiggled in her seat. She watched the two, before Peril smiled sadly as Fen extended her talons slightly. Clay sighed, standing up and limping toward her before plucking her from her seat.

"What's the surprise?" she asked, hugging his neck as he walked her back toward his seat with Peril. The firescales sighed, simply watching her dragonet as she listened to Clay speak.

"We'll tell you in the morning. I have to confirm a few things, alright? Hopefully I can make it to the Kingdom of The Sea before lunch tomorrow."

"Moooooootheeeeeeeer!"

Firefly rolled on her back, giggling as the large RainWing tickled her stomach. The young hybrid batted at the larger talons, but did them no harm. Her mother stopped and smiled, standing up and looking out of the window of their hut. It was dark outside, despite them being so close to the moons from their canopy hut. The large RainWing frowned. Firefly sneezed as a small petal from the flowers outside fluttered in, landing on her snout.

Perking up as she heard other footsteps outside, Firefly rolled on her stomach as the dark dragon made his way in.

"There you are, you little... are we good to go for this year?"

"Sure, your highness," the NightWing bowed, receiving a glare from the RainWing. "Yeah, Glory, Firefly will be able to attend."

"Attend what?" the little dragonet chirped, standing up and bounding over to her father. He looked down at her and grinned, picking her up and sitting down. Looking over at her mother, Firefly extended her talons to touch her snout as she sat beside the NightWing, who put a wing around her and pulled her closer. Glory snorted.

"Deathbringer, sometimes I wonder about you."

"Well good, I'm sometimes on your mind then," he chuckled, kissing the top of her head as Firefly snuggled up between the two dragons. "It's late, though. We can figure everything out in the morning, alright?"

Glory nodded, looking down at Firefly. She smiled slightly, nudging her dragonet as she hopped out of Deathbringer's arms. She darted toward her room, hopping on her nest and turning around.

"Story?" she asked. Sighing, Glory stood up and beckoned Deathbringer to follow her with her tail.

"Yes. If you promise not to sleep in our room tonight, though," she purred.

Goldmaker listened quietly to his mother in the other room, messing with a few vials and sighing. Glass was so hard to come by sometimes. He had resorted to befriending the blacksmith and his NightWing glassblowing assistant, which was now his only source for beakers and vials and such. He had no idea what she was speaking about with her SandWing visitors, but he didn't care either. Focus was a hard thing to keep, and he wanted to get this done.

Yawning, Goldmaker put his protective eyeguard on, messing with one of the vials. It wouldn't damage his scales, but eyes were more sensitive. He learned that the hard way, but at the very least he wasn't permanently blinded. Fortunate was furious with him that day. He was use to that by now, though.

Goldmaker finished up with one of his serums- his mother wanted him to work on stuff with poisonous berries and mushrooms, not anything fatal, but something for... hallucinations? Sleeping darts? He wasn't sure. Nor did he really have a way to test it. Fortunate did that for him. He never had to even touch the stuff after he was done if it worked.

A shame, really. Goldmaker liked to see the result of his work. Most dragons wouldn't even know the advancements in technology he could make now. As Goldmaker began to move the mixture to a vial with a lid, his mother walked into the room.

"There's been a change of plans," she stated, watching as her son nearly dropped the work that she was having him do. Blinking, Goldmaker looked back at his mother.

"Pardon?" he asked. With only the response of a smile, Fortunate flicked her wings as she approached her son, taking his work and finishing the transfer to the new vial.

"Get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow. I'll tell you then," she ordered, tapping him with her tail. Goldmaker took off his eye protection, blinking as he simply tidied up his work space and made his way to his nest. His eyes remained locked on Fortunate the entire time she was in his room, wishing she'd just go away so he could sleep. Silence filled the air as the dragonet closed his eyes, falling asleep to the rare hums of his mother, strutting out of his room.


	2. Chapter One

Prince Drift could not say he was all that nervous about attending Jade Mountain Academy. Not in the slightest. This had been his dream, had it not? His mother helped run the school, both of his aunts attended, most to all of his uncles attended… he was practically destined to join at some point.

He was, however, nervous about meeting his clawmates. Or… clawmate. He wasn't sure if there was going to be one or two. Truly, he hoped it was two other dragonets. If he was stuck with one other and had to make small talk without any backup, he knew there was going to be an issue. He always had one of his cousins with him whenever he was with strangers that came to see the Princesses or Queen Auklet.

"Nervous?" Tsunami asked, sitting down beside her son. Drift blinked, looking up and shrugging. She smirked. "I know your nervous face. Don't worry. If you need me I won't be more than a few halls away from you at all times."  
"Do you know my clawmates?" Drift asked. Frowning as Tsunami shook her head, he looked back at the entrance, his sky eyes watching the place silently. Suddenly, he felt a wing wrap around him and pull him close.

"You'll like them, I promise. I'm sure of it," Tsunami said. "And if not, well… I am the principal of the school."

She smiled wickedly, nudging her dragonet. Drift just frowned more. Would they judge him for that? His mother was both a Princess and ran the school. Some dragons would find that cool.

And from experience, he knew that some would think anything good that Drift got was because of that. That wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to make an impact, but not like _that._ He slowly stood up as Tsunami did, making his way toward the school. Jade Mountain towered over them. It was spectacular, even for a dragonet who didn't truly see that much of the world. He saw aunt Glory and uncle Clay and uncle Starflight, but otherwise, they were all coming to the _ocean,_ he never left until now.

"Just remember, there's a lot more than just SeaWings here. There's three hybrids here I think for this year, and… mostly full-blooded tribes, but another hybrid could always join mid-year. If that happens-"

"If that happens be prepared to possibly have another clawmate. I remember," Drift replied, humming quietly as they walked toward the school. Several NightWings bounded through the entrance, with one of them definitely being familiar. However, if it had been someone he recognized, he didn't remember _who._ Though, since they were a NightWing, that did lower the possibilities. Drift frowned, quickly following his mother inside, making his way off of the crowded and loud landing ledge as he looked up. He had expected to see Starflight's mate, Fatespeaker… but oddly enough, she wasn't here.

At least, not for a few seconds.

"Constellation! You can't fly in the halls!" Fatespeaker scolded, rolling her eyes before perking up. She seemed to fumble with a few scrolls before darting toward Tsunami and Drift, smiling widely. The ebony black NightWing was just as energetic as always, whenever she was visiting with uncle Starflight. Drift thought for a moment, nodding as he finally remembered the NightWing he saw earlier. It was her daughter, Constellation. She was always with the other dragonets when they visited. Especially Fen. Those two stuck together like glue.

"Prince Drift! Wonderful to see you made it. Sorry… Constellation's been so _excited_ about coming, it's hard to keep her from being so energetic," Fatespeaker said with a grin. Tsunami pulled her son close, hugging him tightly.

"I should be off now," she whispered, watching as Drift received his map and welcome scroll. A brand new 'Welcome Students!' banner was strung up, the sunlight illuminating the purple and orange flowers- Aunt Glory's choice. Apparently, they reminded her of the late RainWing Queen, Grandeur, who had passed away just a few months before. Drift blinked, looking back at his mother and nodding. "I have to prepare for the next few weeks. I'll see you later, kiddo."

Tsunami playfully bumped Drift with her wing, before standing up and making her way out. Drift turned back to Fatespeaker, not seeing where his mother was going.

_Shoot… well, there goes finding her if there's an issue,_ he thought, cursing his shorter attention span. Fatespeaker was inspecting the contents of a scroll, and Drift looked expectantly at her.

"Aha! Prince Drift. First tunnel on the right, second cave on the right," she said, grinning. Drift nodded slowly, taking a moment to memorize her words before he stood up.

"Oh, and Drift? Be nice to your NightWing clawmate, Goldmaker."

Stopping, Drift looked back at her. "Goldmaker?"

"Yes. He seemed a bit upset, though I don't know why. He seemed tired," Fatespeaker replied, finally waving as another line of dragonets came in- MudWing siblings. Drift quickly made his way to one of the right tunnels, walking through and folding his wings tightly against his body. The lights hung from the ceiling were a nice touch- reminded him of the sunlight at the Archipelago Palace- at least on the middle island, with the SeaWing's main building where the beach was, and the small forest. It was warm and comforting. Drift hoped he'd be able to go back home sometimes. Maybe bring some dragons he met, show them the grandeur of it all. The IceWing Palace was so inaccessible to the other tribes, the Rainforest didn't even have a palace, the MudWings… well, he wasn't entirely sure, though Queen Tamarack was said to have been working on one. And the SandWing palace was in the desert, where nothing else really complimented anything. Just tan and blue and white.

"Second cave on the right," Drift whispered, stopping in front of the proper cave. He looked up, curling his tail around one of his back legs as he waited for a second. He listened in quietly.

"You're going to blow up the entire school," a gruffer voice murmured, with sounds of shuffling following. There was a snort, and a small _ting_ of glass.

"Who's the scientist here? Me or you?" This voice was lighter, but held an unusual amount of authority to it. If Drift heard it coming from anyone but a student, he would've been willing to bet they were in some sort of high standing with _royalty_. When no answer came from the gruff voiced dragon, the lighter voice laughed. "There's my point. I know what I'm doing."  
More glass clinking, more quiet mumbles and groans from the louder dragon. Drift stood up, about to walk in, until he heard the gruff voiced dragonet speak once more.

"Is it s'pose to bubble like that?"

And with a sudden cry of, "no, no, no, get your head down!" a loud _bang _erupted in the cave.

Drift backed away suddenly, covering his head with his talons as two dragons stumbled out- a MudWing, and a NightWing. The MudWing seemed relatively okay, but the NightWing seemed beyond annoyed, wiping something off of his arm quickly and inspecting a minor burn on it. Nothing severe- he wasn't screaming, so Drift had to assume it was very minor. The NightWIng looked back at the cave, taking a deep breath as he snarled quietly.

"Fourth moon and fireballs, that was unpleasant," he mumbled, watching as a small amount of smoke trickled from the cave. "Nothing flammable, but… considering it was in a glass container… Snipe, you better stay out of there for a little bit while I clean it up. I can't get in trouble on the first day for this."

"That's your problem, not mine. I told you it was gonna explode," the MudWing teased, shoving him with his wing.

"Shut it, you mud muncher." That single insult made the MudWing back off a bit, and finally seem to notice Drift as he turned his attention away from the NightWing. Drift smiled awkwardly.

That NightWing must've been Goldmaker.

_Upset is an understatement, _he thought.

"Oi, I think we have a third clawmate," Snipe said, poking Goldmaker. He flinched away, snarling before turning his head. The first thing that caught Drift off guard were those piercing blue eyes. NightWings didn't have them. They had dark eyes, and maybe some _could_ be dark blue, but these were so bright they were almost silver. Drift had never seen a NightWing with such piercing eyes.

The NightWing's deep, deep grey scales were nearly black in the shadows. And Drift was positive he caused the explosion due to the fact he had what appeared to be some sort of safety equipment covering his eyes. A partially bent bit of glass cylinder. Whatever it was, Drift had never seen it before… however, Starflight had told him stories about his father, Mastermind, and the venom resistant armor, stalled due to a lack of an eyepiece.

Whatever it was, it was meant to protect his eyes.

"What are you looking at?" Goldmaker snapped, his tone a mix of annoyed and rather worried. He inspected his front talons, brushing off small glass particles. "Ugh, this is going to take forever to clean!"

"I could always help ya," Snipe chimed in, smiling happily as he sat down. "I do have the thicker scales-"

"It's… fine. I'll get it myself." Goldmaker looked up, inspecting Drift. His eyes landed on his wings and he paused.

"Ah… we have SeaWing royalty with us. Well, isn't that swell," Goldmaker groaned, standing up and making his way back inside. He brushed some shattered glass away with the end of his tail carefully as he hunted down some cloth to wrap it up in.

"How long has he been working on that?" Drift asked Snipe, watching as a sizzling liquid made its way down the desk he was working on. It wasn't ruining it, so it must've been only some mild acid. Yawning, the MudWing rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the stuff thoughtfully.

"He said it was 'halfway done' when I met 'im. We got here an hour before you. He's trying to make something or other, I don't know." Snipe removed his talon from his neck and looked at the smaller SeaWing. "Snipe."

"So I heard… Prince Drift of the SeaWings," Drift said, lifting his head in a way that aunt Anemone told him to. He didn't like her that much. Apparently she was rather troublesome during her Jade Mountain Academy days. Aunt Auklet did much better with keeping out of trouble. "Nice to meet you, Snipe."

Snipe grinned again- that was seeming to become a common thing, which assured Drift a bit- and beckoned toward their cave. "He'll be in there for a while. How about we go look around for a bit?"

Drift nodded, thinking for a moment as he looked back into their cave. Goldmaker was carefully brushing the glass onto the cloth, wearing what looked almost like cow skin on his hand. The glass would sometimes pierce it, but he simply removed it. No flinching, even though it was his soft underbelly skin. Drift took note of that as well. He seemed to be prepared for these accidents, with the eye gear and the cow skin gloves.

Snipe waited, snapping Drift back to the present with a loud yawn. "Sorry, I spent most of the night flying. Haven't gotten a chance to sleep for a while, probably going to end up sleeping early tonight."

Drift nodded, finally turning his attention away from Goldmaker. As the NightWIng cleaned up the glass on the rock floor, he couldn't help but start to wonder… what was he trying to accomplish?

It was odd, but Goldmaker held both a sense of wonder and danger to the little SeaWing.

"I know this is the prey center. I heard Clay mention it was 'chaotic' when I first arrived," Snipe explained, poking his head into the cave. He frowned. "It's empty now for the most part. Wanna take a look?" Snipe asked, looking over at Drift. The SeaWing nodded, following Snipe inside. He flicked his ears at the screech of a chicken as something caught it, hearing it suddenly cut off. The young SeaWing sat down by one of the walls, watching as Snipe inspected the remaining prey.

"Do they have fish?" Drift asked, smiling as Snipe nodded. He had always had fish back at the Sea Kingdom, obviously, and he didn't really have a taste for other meats. Drift inspected the room, looking around at the cave with curiosity.

"Wouldn't have SeaWings without it, I'd assume." The MudWing came back, messing with some fruits. "Will these work for now, though? I think they have to get more prey, as _SOMEONE_ just snatched the last chicken. We have… pineapple, berries, bananas… take your pick, I don't mind." Snipe took one of the fruits, an exotic one that he seemed rather curious about from the way his eyes were inspecting it. Drift nodded, looking around and watching some of the other dragons in the cave. Of serious note were two, seemingly glued side-by-side. One was absolutely an IceWing, though… amber eyes weren't normal. Drift assumed it was a defect, though he was wearing a first circle necklace regardless. However, the dragon beside him was something else entirely.

"Drift?" Snipe asked. "Three moons, you lose focus quickly."

Drift lowered his head once he realized what he had done, and watched as Snipe inspected the two. "Ah, those are some other members of our winglet- Gold, by the way. Algid's the IceWing. He isn't as haughty as them, though he doesn't… okay, I don't mean to be rude, but he doesn't act like an IceWing. He doesn't even speak like 'em. More SandWing, gruffer. Like me!" Snipe exclaimed, puffing his chest out. Drift nodded. "And the other one is Igneous. She's something odd, actually. SkyWing-SandWing hybrid if she isn't lying. Maybe there's a third, though that's rare. Like, I've never _seen_ three tribes in one dragon, though it's probably possible."

Drift looked back at Igneous, watching the dragoness as she spoke quietly with Algid. "Are they clawmates?"

"Them? No. Igneous is with Firefly and Ember, while Algid… he's alone. Some 'special' requirements were put in place for him. I think they said he tends to be aggressive when bothered too much. Safety precautions or something like that."

Drift nodded, eating his berries as he turned back to Snipe. "Our winglet is something, huh?"  
"Yeah!" Snipe said with a laugh. "Ember's pretty normal, and so is Firefly. But we're one of the odder winglets, I'd say."

Drift nodded, smiling a bit as Snipe laughed. It was infectious, and Drift couldn't help but to chuckle along with him.

Hopefully it'd work for the entire time he was in the Gold Winglet.


	3. Chapter Two

Walking into the library, the first thing Drift noticed was the purple RainWing-NightWing dragonet fiddling with the ends of a few scrolls on their shelves.

Drift knew Princess Firefly for the most part. The Princess of the RainWings and the NightWings, she had a talon in both tribes. Though, her RainWing side was the most obvious. Drift knew she could change color from the one time she visited the Archipelago Palace fully, during a RainWing diplomatic visit. Queen Glory and Princess Tsunami seemed to clash, but more in an Auklet and Anemone manner, where the Queen and the Princess were teasing each other. Firefly had played hide and seek with Drift, and he ended up losing because she managed to make herself look like one of the RainWing statues in their building.

That had been two years ago. Regardless, the little hybrid was still smaller than Drift, and was much smaller than most of the other dragons in the entire _school._ That must've been thanks to how small her father was, considering despite his age against Starflight's, he was barely any bit bigger than him.

When Firefly had seen Drift walk into the library with Snipe, she had nearly tackled the SeaWing.

"Hey! Long time no see, huh?" she chortled, poking him with her bendy tail and holding him in a tight hug. Drift blinked, nudging her with his wing.

"You need to visit the palace more often," Drift teased, a more comfortable side of the SeaWing showing as the familiar face calmed him down. Firefly pulled out of the hug and looked over at Snipe, waving a bit.

"Have you gotten your library stamp yet?" Firefly asked, beckoning toward the desk where Starflight was. "Constellation already got her stamp and a bag for it and other things. I did too!"

Firefly proudly held up a black cloth bag, holding it tightly and smiling. "Mother said that it may even have enough space for some keepsakes for when I'm away from home. Maybe even some small plants to weave around the strap for a bit." Firefly smiled, before darting off to find another scroll to read. Taking in the scent of new scrolls and the nicely lit cave, Drift took a few steps forward. The NightWing at the desk flinched slightly at the sudden new, quick footsteps, but he seemed to relax after a moment. The cloth covering his eyes were a clear indication of his condition.

"I forgot about Starflight," Drift muttered, frowning. While he wasn't told who had attacked him twenty years before, he was told about the attack. Obviously, it still worried him. Just the way he flinched and the way he was listening so intently.

"It's just us!" Snipe called, nudging Drift with his wing. "Prince Drift an' I!"

"Oh… Drift. Good to have you both." Starflight nodded, returning to sorting his scrolls. Drift watched with fascination as Starflight seemed to so effortlessly made his way through the scrolls, despite his blindness. Though, he had worked there for twenty years now. Hopefully that meant he felt some security in his career now. Now that Icicle was gone, at least.

Drift never found out what happened during her trial. All he knew was that she was found guilty of attempted murder or something like that. The IceWings were much more furious than a tribe like the SkyWings would've been for the failed murder attempt, especially from a princess. Drift shivered slightly. He didn't like thinking about it.

"I think we saw most of the school. How about we get our library stamps and check up on Goldmaker? He's probably still upset about his failed work," Snipe said, rolling his eyes. Firefly poked her head from one of the aisles of scrolls, watching as she was joined by another NightWing dragonet. Remaining quiet for a second, Prince Drift slowly nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, that'd be fine." Drift stretched his wings out, taking in as much of the sunlight as possible. With a content sigh, he nodded. "Maybe he'll be in a better mood…"

"Blasted NightWing probably isn't," Snipe chuckled, his laugh echoing in the cave. Drift noticed Starflight seem to shrink a bit, but didn't say anything. As far as Drift was concerned, Starflight thought the same about some of the rest of his tribe anyway. After a moment of watching Snipe walk off, the little SeaWing followed him, keeping himself behind long enough to watch Firefly and her NightWing friend emerge from the aisle to check out a scroll.

"Fourth moon and fireballs…"

Drift poked his head into the sleeping cave before Snipe, watching his NightWing clawmate as he covered his eyes once more and returned to work. It seemed he had just finished cleaning up- he did well, as not a single shard of glass was left on the floor. His talon protectors were put away on the ledge where Goldmaker was working. Oddly, Drift found it rather fascinating to watch the dragon work, seeing his talons move swiftly. For such a young NightWing, he had plenty of expertise on his work, it seemed.

"Oi, Goldmaker! How are ya doin'?" Snipe asked, nudging Goldmaker with his wing. The NightWing fumbled to keep a hold on a glass vial, glaring daggers at Snipe. The usually energetic MudWing blinked, before standing and walking back to Drift. "He's angry at me. Can tell easily."  
"He's… interesting," Drift whispered, flinching a bit as he watched Goldmaker's ear twitch slightly. Turning his head to look back at the two, Goldmaker smirked and set down the vial in a rack-like contraption.

"Interesting is an understatement, my… acquaintances. Intelligent beyond belief in a better way to put it. A perfect tutor for you two," Goldmaker said with a chuckle, though he glanced more at Snipe. "However, I am probably not as experienced as the tutors you must be use to, _Prince Drift._" Goldmaker tilted his head, turning back to his work. Drift couldn't help but feel extremely intimidated in that moment, his wings curling tightly toward his sides. Snipe grunted.

"Moody more like it," he muttered, making his way back to his bed. Drift watched the MudWing flop down on the nest, letting out a deep breath as Goldmaker finished up whatever he was working on. Pausing, he turned and approached Prince Drift, inspecting him for a moment.

"You must be Princess Tsunami's son, then? I've heard plenty about you from… let's see… that IceWing Princess in the Jade Winglet, Prince Sidewinder in the Silver Winglet… and I heard Princess Firefly herself mention you once. In passing, though. You must be _quite_ a popular dragon, then," Goldmaker commented, his striking blue eyes staring directly at Drift. They were unnerving. NightWings had dark eyes, but these?  
They were so oddly bright.

Goldmaker raised an eye ridge, before shrugging. "Or maybe it's because you're a _Prince,_ I guess. I don't know. Haven't been in such a large school before, don't know how words spread." Goldmaker smiled, but it seemed threatening. With a small nod, Drift watched as Goldmaker made his way toward the stone ledge that was one of the three beds in the room. That left Drift with the hammock. He didn't mind, though he didn't like how close it was to the others. If he fell, he'd probably wake them up with a slap of his tail.

Sighing, the dragonet rested his talons beside his striped neck, inspecting the dark grey NightWing as he finished tidying up, and the dark brown MudWing- fast sleep. Oblivious to the work the NightWing was doing.

For his first day at Jade Mountain Academy, Drift was more unsure than ever.

Web's class was the one that Drift really cared about the next morning. His grandfather wasn't around often, but he knew the SandWing War and before the best. And, to Drift's surprise, Igneous and her friend Algid were also in this class. Drift was… curious. Hybrids weren't the most common, still, save for RainWing-NightWing hybrids due to their close proximity. But Igneous was a hybrid that, as far as Drift was sure, wasn't marked down in any sort of history book. Most hybrids were RainWing-NightWing, SeaWing-IceWing or NightWing-IceWing. Sunny was one of the outliers Drift knew of, but hybrids were pretty unheard of recently. He only knew three by name.

Well, four, now. Drift couldn't help but be curious. With a sigh, he turned back to the lesson. He wanted to meet the odd hybrid and her even stranger, amber-eyed IceWing friend. Algid. Princess Fox of the Jade Winglet seemed confused when she looked his way as they entered the history cave, and that made Drift feel nervous. Didn't he know all of the IceWing nobles by name?

Why had he never heard of an Algid before?

Why was it unnerving him so much, anyway? It wasn't his business. As he wrote down notes on the Scorching, his mind couldn't help but stay on the topic of the odd duo. In a sense, Igneous' mysterious aura reminded him of how stories were told of Queen Thrasher, the first true SandWing Queen- if she even was that. No one was truly sure, as hybrids were much more widespread then, even when the tribes were first defined.

_Focus, Drift,_ the Prince told himself, tapping an ink stained claw on the scroll he was writing on. He couldn't keep thinking like this- comparing dragons to the dragons of the past. It just made them feel like he was comparing them to villains. No, right now they were finel.

_But so were Sora and Icicle, and they killed or tried to kill dragons,_ Drift thought with a shiver, looking around with wide eyes for a moment. He caught Webs' gaze, quickly relaxing. He was fine. He was going to be okay.

Drift wasn't prepared when Webs called "class dismissed" and everyone began to leave, some to the prey center. That was where Drift was going, where he'd meet Snipe. However, as Drift stood up, someone else did and nearly toppled him over, his scrolls barely staying within his reaching range as he yelped.

The hybrid looked toward him, pinning her ears back as she quickly snatched one of the scrolls that was starting to unravel.

"Teeth of the viper…" she grumbled, looking up. "Sorry 'bout that. Tight quarters and all, I guess. Not use to being so close to other dragons."

"Y-yeah, I get that," Drift stuttered, a bit taken aback still by nearly being knocked over by the large dragoness. She was only a bit smaller than Goldmaker, an already massive dragon himself. Igneous, as well as being tall, was definitely built more like a SandWing. She seemed compact, but had plenty of muscle. An Outclaw, maybe? But she seemed too young to have been an Outclaw- though, Qibli was one. Maybe she has a close relationship with Queen Sunny? Drift couldn't be sure. Sunny only recently ascended to the throne, after all. "Uh… I'm Prince Drift."

"Igneous." That was all the hybrid said, as Drift watched her eyes scan around the cave, catching maps of Pantala and Pyrrhia on the wall. A few paintings of Queen Thorn, Queen Coral, and Queen Glacier adorned the opposite wall, and Drift saw Igneous look toward the painting of Thorn. "So, since you're a Prince, did you ever meet Thorn before she died?"

Drift blinked, looking back into the dark eyes of Igneous. They unnerved him. All SandWing eyes did- even NightWing eyes sometimes, unless they were a dark green or purple. Drift slowly nodded.

"She came by once during a land dispute over… over a town of SeaWings and a town of SandWings, on the northern end of the Sand Kingdom. She came to the Archipelago palace about two weeks before her death," Drift replied. Igneous nodded, glancing at Webs for a moment. There was fire in the hybrid's eyes- Drift could see it now. Some sort of anger or passion.

"Hmm," she hummed, shrugging. "Well, I've got to go. I'm hunting with Algid in the mountains today." With a small flick of her barbed tail, Igneous trotted out of the cave. The Prince blinked as he looked toward his grandfather.

Webs simply shrugged. They both were thinking the same thing, no doubt.

Igneous was curious about Thorn's death. It was a simple illness, one that attacked quickly.

But Drift couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it than that.

The prey center was hectic, as Drift expected. His mother always told him about how Clay needed to really adjust how things were run, but for the time being, it was going to be like this.

Drift didn't spend long, snatching a fish the moment he found one and finding a place to sit. Hopefully, Snipe would be there. He didn't like sitting alone like this. Especially not surrounded by dragons trying to catch their own food. Loud, obnoxious… Clay really needed to adjust how things were done, didn't he? Drift snorted, lowering his head slightly as he went to take a bite from his fish.

"SNIPE! Don't shove me!"

Drift blinked, lifting his head and squinting a bit at the sunlight. He didn't realize how cloudy it was until now. His eyes locked on a group of MudWings, with Snipe in the center of them. The MudWing's ears flicked back as he stared up at the taller female, who was fuming.

"Sorry, Bracken," he said, glancing around. With a wide smile Snipe trotted toward Drift, sitting down next to him. He looked around, before snatching a chicken quickly as it flapped it's wings and darted past him. "Hectic today, huh?"

"Yeah," Drift replied. The Prince glanced around, spotting the currently sky blue scales of Firefly. "Is she alright?"  
"Earlier today Algid snapped at her for something stupid. Don't know what, she won't tell. Probably related to her father." Snipe shrugged, plucking a few feathers off of his chicken. He did it almost aimlessly, lost in thought. "Fen got all huffy due to it, I think she's back in her room. I'll bring her something later," Snipe replied with a chuckle. Drift smiled for a moment, but glanced back at his fish. His appetite was gone. Snipe noticed. He raised an eye ridge, tapping his claws on the stone ground as Drift set his fish back down, making the stone under it damp.

"Have… you ever wondered about what happened to Queen Thorn?" Drift asked, catching Snipe by surprise.

"Illness. Some are very fast, and don't show signs 'til it's too late. Why do ya ask?"

"Oh, just," Drift thought for a moment, "curious I guess. I saw her two weeks before her death a few months ago… she seemed fine, then. Absolutely healthy." Drift frowned, his claws piercing the scales of the fish. "Igneous mentioned it to me earlier, got me thinking I guess."

"Huh… well, maybe you can ask mister intelligent NightWing about it," Snipe muttered, nudging Drift with his wing and beckoning toward the entrance of the cave.

In more light, the NightWing was an absolute marvel. Even his eyes seemed to show power now. Goldmaker looked around, a bag secure around his neck and chest like some of the other students. But his was definitely his own. The chain was larger than the ones the school had, and it seemed to be made out of the same material as the gloves he was wearing earlier.

Drift knew it now, since he had asked Tsunami about it earlier. Not many tribes had things made out of leather, but a few did- mostly the tribes who hunted cows. Snipe probably knew the whole time that Goldmaker had leather on him. Drift just hadn't thought to ask.

"Hey," the air beside him said, before revealing the little RainWing-NightWing hybrid, her scales a darker blue than before. Firefly sat down beside the spooked Drift and Snipe, watching Goldmaker calmly. "I've never seen him before, you know. I know every NightWing here but him," she stated, curiosity in her tone. Drift looked back toward Goldmaker. He did seem rather skinny, compared to the other NightWings. Most had put on more weight from their time on the volcano, and most were larger now that they had a constant food supply in the Rainforest.

Goldmaker was large, but he was a lot skinnier. Likely not a brute force fighter. Drift could tell that much.

"Eh?" Snipe asked, blinking. "You know all of 'em?"

"Of course I do, they're my mother's subjects. Besides, the Rainforest's actual kingdom is small," Firefly replied. "I think I'd remember a strange, cocky, blue-eyed NightWing dragonet only a year older than me."

Almost in perfect timing with those words, Goldmaker looked toward Snipe, Drift and Firefly's spot, grinning as he strutted over to them. He had a persona of being cocky, but Fatespeaker had told Drift to be nice to him. Perhaps it was just a facade, then.

"Nice seeing you guys here again. Of course, Igneous and that IceWing friend of hers seem to not be here. A shame. We could have almost the entire winglet with us," Goldmaker mused, sitting down beside Drift- away from Snipe, between him and Firefly. He was avoiding Firefly's gaze, though, but she didn't seem to mind in the slightest as she simply listened to the dragon speak. "So, how have my clawmates been?"

"Fine 'til you showed up," Snipe chuckled. The NightWing frowned, but said no more as he looked over at Drift.

"I've been okay," Drift said. Goldmaker nodded.

"That's good," the NightWing said. He flicked his ear, finally turning to face Firefly. The RainWing was focused on trying to peel an orange, using her claws to pierce the thick skin and pull it away. "Who may this be?"

_He speaks so proper… he isn't nobility, though. Firefly and I would know him if he was_, Drift thought. "Uh, this is Princess Firefly of the RainWings."

Lifting her gaze, Firefly suddenly seemed to notice the attention on her. Bursts of yellow appeared on her scales, but she seemed to try and quickly turn it back to blue. Of course, Drift thought that going to her natural scale color would be best, but purple did mean guilty. Goldmaker tilted his head slightly.

He simply shrugged, looking back at Drift. "She looks rather RainWing-like to be a part NightWing," he commented. Firefly flattened her frill, her scales remaining the calm blue. But Drift watched as her tailtip twitched wildly.

"I can't spit venom, though. My appearance is RainWing, but my traits are part NightWing as well," Firefly replied. Goldmaker glanced back.

"Fangs."

With that, Goldmaker stood up. Drift watched as he quickly snatched a few fruits, making his way out of the cave. Firefly's frill ruffled up again.

"Stupid NightWing," Snipe murmured. Drift looked between the two, sighing as he finally finished his meal.

So much for asking Goldmaker about Thorn. Or anyone, for that matter. Prince Sidewinder had gone silent since the death of his mother and the ascension of his half-sister to the throne. There was always asking Sunny herself what she thought, but she never came to the diplomatic meetings at the SeaWing palaces.

_Don't worry about it now. You've got plenty of time,_ Drift thought with a small snort. The curiosity was going to kill him.


End file.
